Post navigation

Writing the Essay I (traveling)

After re-reading Grace Pasley’s essay, I noticed a few themes that I did not consider before. As the story follows along, we readers sense a strong relationship between a mother and daughter, the sense of time and history, and being true to one’s inherent beliefs and fickle society. Out of all the following themes, the one I sensed the strongest connection to was the relationship between the mother and daughter.
Strong relationships are built on reliance and respect and the mother and daughter had a relationship that was tied tightly by trust and confidence. If the mother had never spoken up for herself, the daughter would not have had remembered the time, fifteen years ago, and have a story to tell in later. The sentence, “This reorganization of passengers happened in silence,” —in the first part of the essay— is a powerful quote because it shows how custom and daily the segregation was, without anyone speaking up. The mother only responding in one word have her a character of bravery, something that the daughter will always be able to recognize and remember. “No,” the mother’s response, was a simple yet powerful response that was able to stick with the daughter even after years passed.
The mother and child that the author noticed in Part II, reflected and remind her of her own mother and the bond they shared. As the rude passenger got the lady of the buses attention, to tell her not to touch the baby, she recalled her own mother stance and how protective she was on the travels. Comfort always came before physical features. Offering the baby to sit on her lap, was equivalent to her mother saying “No,” because they both claimed for what they believed was right, regardless of the regular social norms. She wanted the lady to feel at ease by offering her lap, and that action she used gave her a sense of motherly authority. The mother stood up for herself, and because the author did too, we see how role modeling and idea of protection blend.
To me, it seems like her small travels on the bus symbolize the bond between her mom, and any similar encounter will allow her to recall her strong relationship between her mom and daughter. The essay was beautiful, not only in because of the diction that flowed but because we as readers got to see how refusing something not typical became something empowering and motivating.